Damien put on a fake smile.

"Greetings Head Professor, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The man had a disgusted expression plastered on his face; he looked rather pale, tired, and had dark bags hidden behind the rim of his glasses.

'In the game, Damien is already the Head Professor. I always wondered how he got the position, so I looked up the lore on the wiki; it turns out the previous Head Professor died, and Damien got the position by default as he was his teaching assistant.'

Seeing the Head Professor's face go from disgust to annoyance, he felt a little playful, "You look rather pale, Head Professor; everything okay?"

The man's face went slightly red from the remark, "Damien, I heard you are my new teaching assistant?"

Damien looked down at the man with disdain, "Yes, that is correct,"

"Did you pay off the Dean? I never heard of you taking a test to display your capabilities! What school of magic or teaching qualifications do you even have!" the professor screamed. He was trying to put on a show.

Sure enough, his shouting quickly seemed to attract the attention of the surrounding students.

To Damien, the man just looked like a raving dog; he knew this man would die in two weeks from a heart attack.

'It's a surreal experience to know you are talking to a dead man; if I were the old Damien, I would be trying to curry favour with this man, but since I know his end is near, it's like listening to the ranting of a lunatic instead.'

Damien walked down the marble stairs and stood only a step away from the man. His large frame and broad shoulders completely dwarfed the sickly-looking man. Yet despite the man's ashen complexion, he still had darker skin than Damien; the difference was Damien's pale skin seemed healthy rather than from illness. He was a vampire, after all.

Damien knew the Head Professor was a prideful man that hated corruption and especially despised the nobility; at least that's what the wiki article suggested.

'The Head Professor used to be powerful, but his mana circuit is damaged due to his illness, meaning he is incredibly weakened, but only the Head Professor and I know of this fact.'

All the students surrounding them still thought the Head Professor was a man with B grade in Geokinesis. Of course, B grade wasn't something to make the man famous, but it was respectable. What made him the Head Professor was his knowledge of magic and his A grade in Mana Control.

'But it should have been demoted to C grade due to his illness.'

"Head Professor." Damien's voice was cold and lacked any respect he should have towards his superior within the university. "My special circumstances mean being tested would be inconvenient, but I am more than capable."

The Head Professor reacted just as Damien intended.

"I don't care about your special circumstances, some of us worked very hard for our current position, and it's noble bastards like you that ruin it for the rest of us!"

Some students murmured in agreement, while some better-dressed students frowned at the man's words. They felt personally attacked.

A commoner in the crowd shouted, "Head Professor is right! Nobles always cheat their way through life! So I suggest a duel to show Teacher Damien's capabilities!"

Damien looked toward the boy in the crowd with scorn, which only seemed to fuel the fire in the commoner's mind that Damien had no such capabilities and was simply a noble brat with money!

'All according to plan so far… now will the Head Professor take the bait?' Damien thought, amused at how well the situation worked in his favour. From an outside perspective, They had caught Damien out, and he was trying to use intimidation to escape the duel.

Damien noticed the slight panic on the Head Professor's face. The man knew his situation was less than ideal, and if Damien had any schools of magic in the B tier, he was likely to lose.

But how likely was it that Damien had skills in the B tier? The number of people with B tier and above skills in Kassinki was below 100. Although not a small number, it should mean the odds are in the Head Professor's favour.

A human man with dazzling blonde hair and wearing a white and gold suit similar to Damien's walked forward. The crowd seemed to part for him like the red sea.

Damien mentally sighed. 'Here comes another death flag….'

"August Greentail greets Head Professor and Teaching Assistant Damien."

The Head Professor seemed startled for a second and quickly bowed to the Prince, "Greetings to the First Prince."

August turned to look at Damien and frowned when Damien didn't bow or pay respect. The First Prince then grinned a bit after finding a way to humiliate Damien.

"I was going to defuse the situation, but Teaching Assistant Damien seems full of himself! So I, as the First Prince, suggest a duel, with some stakes, of course."

The Head Professor looked even more distressed; this had become more serious than he intended. First, he wanted to investigate Damien to see if he had any qualifications to be his assistant, but now it had turned into a full-on duel that the heir decreed to the throne!

Prince August gestured towards Damien, "If Teaching Assistant Damien loses the bet, I suggest he resigns from his position and publicly apologizes to both the Head Professor and admits to abusing his material assets to gain entrance into the institution."

The Head Professor nodded in agreement with Damien's end of the duel.

"What if I win?" Damien asked in a cold tone.

"Hmm," The Prince scratched his chin, "How about I request the Dean to promote you to Head Librarian of the Mage Towers library?"

Damien silently cheered in his mind, 'That's perfect! I get protection from the mage tower, and I don't even have to do any teaching!'

Before Damien could agree, the Head Professor butted in, "First Prince, I will be without an assistant then, and if Damien can defeat me, it would be a shame to lose such a talented assistant. So I suggest he can have the promotion but also has to remain as my assistant on the side."

The Prince was about to respond, but Damien beat him to it, "I agree".

'The man dies in 2 weeks anyway; I will only be his assistant for a week at most before I get the position of Head Professor. If I can become the Head Professor and Head Librarian of the Mage Towers library, I will hold considerable influence within the university!'

The Prince seemed a little suspicious of my quick reply, as who would willingly be someone's assistant? Especially a noble, which the Prince assumed Damien was from his temperament.

"As the First Prince of Kassinki, I hereby declare a duel between Head Professor Victor and Teaching Assistant Damien…."

The first Prince looked towards me, I looked towards Fay, and she seemed to understand and nodded.

"Karles, Damien Karles," Damien replied, understanding the Prince's hint.

"Very well, Damien Karles and Head Professor Victor shall duel in a week in the university's arena; I shall be the judge."

The crowd started clapping and cheering in excitement. The Head Professor looked ready to pass out from stress, and Damien just turned back towards the public library.

He had some magic to learn for the upcoming duel.